Nursing home scandal exposed: Lost generation of senior citizens being hospitalized for profit

Tuesday, October 04, 2011 by: Christina Luisa

(NaturalNews) A shocking new study conducted by theNational Institute of Agingjust revealed that one fifth of Medicare nursing home patients with Alzheimer's or other dementia were sent to hospitals for "questionable reasons" in their final months, often enduring tube feeding and intensive care that prolonged their suffering.

Here's the kicker that makes these "questionable reasons" a lot less mysterious: Medicare pays THREE TIMES the normal daily rate for nursing homes to take patients back after a brief hospitalization.

Nursing homes often claim hospital care is necessary when a frail elderly patient suffers from swallowing problems, pneumonia or other infections, but researchers of the new study behind this outrageous report have long suspected theTRUE motive behind these transfers is money, plain and simple.

This "lost generation" of senior citizens, in other words, are being sent to hospitals to suffer needlessly FOR PROFIT.

Nursing homes exposed as Medicare parasites

Thecriminalsrunning these nursing homes are transferring helpless, undeserving elderly folk into hospital settings where their suffering is perpetuated. Many of these poor senior citizens are then unable to pass away in peace because of their prolonged treatments in these hospitals. This simply is becausemoney-grubbing torturersare desperate for extra cash flow from Medicare.

Researchers found that elderly patients who were "questionably" transferred (read: dishonestly transferred) were more likely to have a feeding tube inserted, to spend time in intensive care in the last month of life, to end up with a severe bedsore or to be enrolled in hospice late (three days or less before they died).

The researchers from the National Institute of Aging used Medicare records from 2000 through 2007 to identify what would qualify as "burdensome" and unnecessary transitions of care: uprooting sick elderly patients in the last three days of life, carting them to hospitals multiple times in the last three months of life or moving them in such a way that they landed in a new nursing home afterward.

Disgustingly enough, these hospital transfers were also more common with black and Hispanic elderly patients. This means nursing homes are not only selfishly hospitalizing elderly patients that are terminally ill for financial gain, they're trying to get rid of them for racist reasons as well!

The results of this new study are especially significant and eye-opening becausemore than 1.6 million Americans live in nursing homes. That's right -- that means approximately 320,000 helpless elderly people who are incapable of fending for themselves or defending themselves are beingwrongfully hospitalized by nursing homes for profit. This is an absolute embarrassment to humanity!

Among the nearly 475,000 elderly patients studied, 19 percent were moved to hospitals for "questionable reasons." That's a HUGE percentage of senior citizens being victimized for profit!

Although rates of these transfers vary from state to state, in one example from McAllen, Texas, 26 percent of study participants had multiple hospitalizations for urinary infections, pneumonia or dehydration -- conditions that can ALL usually be treated effectively in a nursing home.

In other words, the huge amount of terminally ill senior citizens that make up this "Lost Generation" are silently suffering at the hands of America's corrupt healthcare system.

The Lost Generation is being sucked into the Matrix. In the movie people were put into tubes and turned into human batteries and in this case, these defenseless elderly patients are being turned into human cash machines.

There are no excuses for this repulsive, outrageous behavior

Nursing homes have absolutely no room to sugarcoat this or claim the fear of legal liability if these poor senior citizens are not hospitalized at the drop of a hat. Why? Because people with advanced dementia ALREADY have a terminal condition. Most of these elderly patients are already in the process of dying in nursing homes.

This is a population of very ill elderly patients that are unable to recognize their relatives and are bed-ridden. It's not uncommon for them to develop swallowing problems.

These patients thrive so much more when they are able to stay in a nursing home, a comfortable environment where caregivers and surroundings are familiar. So how on earth could they benefit from being taken to a hospital where they will suffer even more and have a tube shoved down their throat?

According to these nursing homes, the well-being of these elderly people does not matter. The only thing these money-hungry monsters care about is a fatter paycheck.

The hardships and strains of hospitalizations on senior citizens very obviously outweigh the possible benefits. Nursing homes should easily be able to manage the care of those with advanced dementia without the unwarranted stress of frequent hospitalizations. Yet, this violation of human rights continues, stripping senior citizens of their dignity and comfort as well as putting unnecessary strain on their families.

Nursing homes clearly are not exempt from the criminality of the health care industry

Medicaid pays on average $175 per day (depending on the state) for long-term care, but Medicare will pay three times that amount for what is deemed "skilled nursing care" after a patient returns from three days or more in a hospital.

This extra financial cushion puts flashing dollar signs in the eyes of these predatory monsters that call themselves "nursing" homes. Instead of living up to their title and NURSING the elderly patients that need their help the most, these homes merely look at them as opportunities to putmore cash in the bank.

Nursing homes are specifically equipped to handle the needs of senior citizens suffering from terminal conditions. Their purpose is to provide care and allow these elderly patients to rest in peace until it is their time to pass.

But apparently the greedy incentive of these nursing homes to hospitalize terminally ill patients for their own profit is far greater than their desire to provide the care these patients desperately need and deserve.

Certainly makes you wonder about how deep the corruption and criminality of America's health care system runs, doesn't it?

This revealing truth about nursing homes is a complete outrage! These corrupt Medicare leaches need to be stopped before even more helpless elderly patients have to endure causeless suffering for the sake of profit.

Sources for this story include:

http://news.yahoo.com/dementia-pati...